Authorities in Caerbrough, Algria have confirmed three people have died from their injuries after an angered tribal-ethnic extremist from Korasha opened fire in the city's Mair Square. The shooter has been arrested and charged in criminal court - and faces a possible 50 year prison sentence each for the shootings.
Caerbrough is the largest city and the seat of the provincial government, and as of tonight it is the site of a national tragedy that put it on security lockdown as the Federal Security Force searched for the perpetrator of the shooting that left three people dead - one an 18 year old college student returning home from her classes.
"I was walking across the square to the cafe across the street, when suddenly I start hearing screaming in some foreign language and then popping... then just people running in different directions" says Seocan MacFhraingein, a witness to the event. "It was a frightening experience."
"Do you know what the shooter was saying?" we asked "or was he aiming for anyone in particular?"
"No, it was a language I didn't know... and I don't think he was... just firing into the crowd blindly" says MacFhraingein in response.
The news of the shooting was a shock to Algrians and other Arganorhans, as Algria is notorious for its stringent gun laws and relatively safe culture. This shooting is the first confirmed shooting in the nation in the last ten years, and the nation's most deadly event since the Great War in the late 1800's.
Mair Square is a popular tourist spot and congregation point for the city's residents. The Federal Security Force claims that it is likely these qualities that made the square the target of choice for the angered man to perpetrate his attack.
The security force did notify the public the suspect had been found and arrested later on in the day, and his weapon had been confiscated.
The suspect is 20 year old Wachiuri Mbũgua, a recent arrival from central Korasha, who had been granted asylum after his tribe had been uprooted by tribal ethnic warfare in the region. Authorities claim that he had refused to give a statement about the attack, but did claim there was evidence that his actions were motivated by the ethnic fighting in Korasha.
"We need to truly address the issue of racial extremism being imported from other nations - particularly in Korasha where ethnic tensions are leading to millions of deaths a year" claims Centre-Right parliamentarian Pòl Deòir. "The policy of letting anyone into Algria that wants to come simply has failed."
The Centre-Right Party took no time calling for more immigration checks on those coming from warzone regions as refugees, with party leader Cinnéididh Ó Ríagaín taking to Connectid to call for a parliamentary hearing on the current immigration policies the government, calling on the incoming Centre-Left government to take further action. Ó Ríagaín, in an offhand news interview with national broadcaster ART 1 claimed that he will be pushing for a parliamentary commission in the upcoming Government Questions Session this week.
Centre-Left leader and prospective Prime Minister Finnchán Ó Branagáin, for his part, took to Connectid to stress his condolences, and the nation's condolences to the families of the victims of the attack.
Finnchán Ó Branagáin, Connectid Post (@FinnBranagain)
Finnchán Ó Branagáin's Centre-Left Party promised swift action in interviews and discussions in the hours after the attack, and Branagáin himself gave a speech in the evening discussing his prospective government's new legislation to lengthen prison sentences for repeat offenders and egregious offences; as well as noting his party's agreement with the Centre-Right's Ríagaín to review the screening process for refugees.
"We must accept refugees into this nation, not only as a commitment of international law, but as a humanitarian commitment to the betterment of the human race." said Branagáin in a short interview with ART 1. "But we cannot let the idea that we must protect others muddle our commitment to the safety of our citizens. Let me be clear, we will not turn away those in need, ever, on my watch - and refugee resettlement will not change. But we must review the process."
It is unclear what such a review would entail, and rather the prospective Prime Minister can keep his word that nothing will change. The Centre-Right's Ríagaín claimed that, if nothing will change, then what is the point?
"We set up commissions to find the problem and solve them." said Ríagaín in a Connectid Post. "But if we promise nothing will change, then the commission is pointless. What is the point? And what will be the government's policy here?"
As for Mbũgua himself, he is currently sitting in federal prison outside of the city waiting to be brought into court for his pretrial hearing. Prosecutors have claimed that he will face terrorism charges, as well as three counts of Heinous Homicide, charges which face serious penalties upon his conviction.
"Algria has 4 homicide charges: Unintentional Homicide - where you killed someone on accident or through negligence; Impassioned Homicide, which is where a person commits a murder in the heat of the moment and does not think about their actions; Planned Homicide, which requires an extensive plot to commit murder where the accused had the opportunity to reflect on their actions; and Heinous Homicide, where the killing was particularly cruel, or done to inflict additional pain and suffering on the victim or bystanders." claims Algric law expert Ailpein MacAra. "Prosecutors allege that his intention to murder people at random in a terror event constitutes Heinous Murder. His lawyers will likely try to argue it was a crime of passion, since it was in response to the genocide of people in his homeland."
"What would be the point in arguing over these facts?" asks ABO News.
"Well with Heinous Murder he faces 50 years in prison for each murder count minimum, plus the Terrorism charge to add another 20 years to his sentence." claims Dumcreath. "If his lawyers can convince the panel of judges it was a crime of passion, he can get his sentences bundled into one sentence of 50 years total - which means he could get out of prison again."
The pretrial motion is set for next month, and the trial will take place by the end of the year, if everything goes smoothly.